I love playing music so much.
I also have a meditation practice that is so supportive for me, and I love that the two practices can have benefits that really cross over.
I’m not the first to have wondered, is music actually moving meditation?
What I’ll say is this: Music is like a hot tub for me mind. So rejuvenating!
So if you wanted to make your music practice a little more meditative, how could you start?
1 ) learn the technique
“Do this with your right hand, while you do this other thing with your left hand.”
These are the nuts and bolts of ukulele playing. The simple things, the practical things that inevitably lead to bigger questions: What kind of effect do you want to create? An emotionally intense one or a soft and delicate one?
Questions like this can lead you toward the types of techniques you use in creating a ukulele arrangement.
2) forget the technique
Ha, so soon?
Well, yes and no. Of course this part of the process takes time. This is the work that must be done: to get from the furrowed-brow phase of over-tightening and concentration, to the phase of ease and flow.
Make the techniques so deep a part of you that you don’t have to actively think about them while you’re doing them.
3) trust your instincts
Go inward. Listen to yourself. Pay very close attention. Be very honest with yourself.
Then share all of that in your performance.
When you can let go of all the tightening that happens when you’re first learning musical technique, you can get to the real point: going with the flow.
For me, it’s about trusting my feelings. If I allow this honesty to shine through, I inevitably find that I can tell the story of the song in a straightforward, emotionally honest fashion.
In my opinion, this is what creates a memorable musical performance that people are deeply moved by. The kind of performances that stick with you, inspire you, ring on and on in your ears.
Not to mention that when you tap into this kind of flow, it feels deeply rooting and connective in a meditative — yet intoxicating — sort of way.
Till next time …
xx
-s
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